Where Wolves Fear To Tread
by Seventh Sanctum
Summary: B312. Hyper lethal. Assassin. All to describe one Spartan. But what made him into the machine, engineered for destruction, that we all know? Who is Noble Six? Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, it belongs to Bungie/343. This is a work of fiction, purely for entertainment purposes.
1. New Beginnings

**Welcome to this new fic! I've had this idea floating around my mind for a while now so I thought, why not! There is a lot of room for interpretation around the history of Six; origins, and after being reassigned from Beta. There is a massive gap between January 2544 (OPERATION: Cartwheel) and July 2552 (Events of Reach) which I aim to exploit. There are a few places where cannon can be assigned, be even then its patchy and leave you to make of it what you will. I have tried to stick as close to cannon as I can (Halo Nation is a haven of information) and have learned, already, a lot I didn't know before. One extra side-note, I have't the greatest track record with uploading, but I am older, and hope to be more ****consistent. That being said, I do have a lot of work to do outside of FF so my updates will be weekly, if not, fortnightly. Anyway, enough of that, please enjoy the fic and I thank you for visiting!**

_**-SS**_

* * *

_28th December, 2544_

"You're being reassigned." What. He didn't realise that he'd said it aloud. "You heard me right, B312, you're being reassigned." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Reassigned? To where?" the Spartan asked, incredulously. Kurt Ambrose, the towering Spartan-II, shifted his weight so that he was leaning on his left leg, crossing his arms in the process. "To wherever you're needed." The Lieutenant Commander replied, dancing around the truth. B312 snorted. "Right. Of course that's what they want." Shaking his head, the Spartan turned to leave. Kurt sighed, unfolding his arms as he did so. He gripped the right shoulder of the 13 year old. "Dex, wait." Spinning the Spartan around with the hand on his shoulder. "Look there are those, myself included, that think that using Spartan-III's as expendable soldiers is not the solution to the problem at hand. We think that you're worth more than that." The smaller Spartan refused to look at his superior. "We want more than just a number on a sheet, we want good soldiers." Kurt was desperately trying to get the young Spartan on board. Dex finally turned to look at him. "If you want so much for me, why are you taking me out of the company right before an OP?" Kurt's face dropped immediately. "Where did you hear that?" A serious tone apparently obvious. "Come on Sir, you know I can't give away my sources." A smirk playing at the young Spartan-III's lips. The older LC gripped both of his shoulders, his face betraying his apparent worry. "I'm serious Dex, I need to know where or who you found this out from. That is as classified as it gets." B312 dropped his smirk, realising the seriousness of the situation. "It was Kat sir, she found it whilst scanning comms going around the facility, we're the only ones that know." His eyes dropping to the floor, guilt very apparent in his posture. The older Spartan dropped his head to Dex's eye level, looking for any hints of false truth. Seemingly finding none he let go of the young man's shoulders, standing to his full height, a hint of a smile on his face. He heaved a sigh, full blown grinning now. "I swear, B312, if I didn't like you so much you would be in so deep now. But I do like you, so get your gear." The smile that was on Dex's face dropped once again. "My gear, Sir?" Kurt's smile turned sinister. "Yes private. You." jabbing his finger in Dex's chest "Are doing laps."

~SB~

_29th December 2544_

"So, you're leaving." It was more of a statement than a question. The Slavic accent was very pronounced in the young woman's voice. Dex turned from his duffel bag to look at her. "Yeah. Don't know where I'm headed, but this is the end of the road at Beta for me." He turned back to his bag, lowering his head. He was going to miss this bunk. It was all he had known. It had been there from the beginning. Through his initial conscription. Through training. And finally through the augmentation. The supplements, given nine months before, forcibly induced early puberty to help their bodies adapt to the drastic changes that were about to be made. While the augmentations were now in drug form, rather than the invasive operations in the Spartan-II era, the needles that contained the drugs were very large. Very large and, possibly even worse so, very many of them. He can still remember the feel of the needles entering his veins, the feel of the concoction drugs coursing throughout his body. It's not something that one forgets very easily. The 'retina-inversion stabilizer' (significantly improving colour sharpness and allowing 'night vision') had the worst side effect on him. He had to be treated for migraines for a week before it died down. While it occurred with other members of Beta, he was out for longer than they had been, thus earning him the fond nickname 'Brains' among his squad mates. Through all of that, his bunk was a constant. A respite for him_. And Kat_, a small voice reminded him in his head. A gentle hand on his shoulder, from the aforementioned Spartan, brought him back to the room. "You okay?" she probed gently. He sighed. "I will be." _I think_ he added to himself. He zipped up his military standard duffel bag, containing only the essentials. Standing up, he threw the bag over his shoulder. "Don't worry about me Kat. You just focus on leading the squad, we both know I couldn't do it." winking at her, he made a move to leave the room, but an arm across his midsection stopped him. It rested just below the UNSC insignia on his shirt. "When do you leave?" he paused in his advance not looking at her. "The Warthog leaves in 10, the Pelican in an hour." _Not long. _Still, she made no intention of removing her arm. "How long are you out?" _Are you coming back? _The message was hidden, but clear. He paused, unsure of how to reply. "I don't know." he replied, somewhat truthfully. "Details are very scarce." She eyed him for a moment but eventually lowered her arm, content with his answer. He continued out the door, away from everything he had known. "Dex!" She called after him. Turning, he saw her leaning on the frame of the door. "Good luck." She smiled. "I don't need luck! I have ammo!" He returned the grin before turning and walking down the corridor and around the corner. Exiting the barracks door, he saw the Warthog waiting for him. The driver, leant against the Hog, was chatting with one of the guards on duty. They stopped as he got to the vehicle. The driver nodded toward him "Spartan." even though he was only 13 he was still half a head taller than the driver, at six foot three. "You ready to go?" Dex threw his bag into the seat of the Hog and turned to look at the camp that had been all he'd known for half his life. "Yeah. Lets go."

~SB~

The Warthog ride to the Pelican was uneventful, passing only minor farm settlements on the way to the Spaceport. Seeing the fields of crops reminded Dex of his previous life, living on a farm on the planet Skopje in the Urtha system. A life he had before he was an orphan. A life where his parents were still alive. A life where he wasn't a machine, engineered for destruction. A life where he wasn't a Spartan.

According to his file, that he and Kat had stolen, he was actually born on Arcadia, July 5 2531. The same year the Covenant would attack the planet. Even though the Covenant were driven off the planet, with the aid of the UNSC _Spirit of Fire, _Dex's parents would still move away from the system to a new planet. Skopje. They bought a small farm in the Magol region of the planet, in November 2531, where they hoped to build a new life. Sadly though, it seemed that the events on Arcadia had effected them more than they had thought. They enlisted with the UNSC in December 2534, 3 years after the move. The question of what would happen to Dex, who was 4 at the time, had already been solved. His uncle had already been on the planet for 10 years, and so it was arranged that Dex would move to stay with his uncle and the farm would be sold. Simple.

Except it wasn't. Though he couldn't remember much of his previous life, what he did remember was that his uncle was away a lot of the time. He also remembered that, when he was there, he and his uncle didn't always see eye to eye, being that he got in trouble a lot of the time. The arrangement wouldn't last, however. On March 18 2536, a military issue Warthog pulled up outside his uncle's house. His parents had both been confirmed KIA. The man in uniform told him how, but he wasn't listening. His parents were dead. That was the final nail in the proverbial coffin. He couldn't live like he was for the rest of his life. And so he ran away. Escaped his uncles house whilst he was away on business. He lived as an orphan from then on. He may have been only five years old, but he was one of the most successful orphans he knew. He knew just how and who to steal from to get by. And he did for over a year until July 13 2537 where he was picked up by men in black suits. That was ONI. They offered him a place on the Spartan-III program. He only had one question for them. "Do I get to kill Covenant?" He was conscripted a month later. And transported to Onyx

And then he found himself where he is now. In the passenger seat of a Warthog, coming up to the spaceport. He almost did a double take, not realising how much time had passed. Before he knew it the Warthog stopped, the driver turning to him. "This is your stop Spartan." The phrase was simple but held so much meaning. This was the next step in his life. He collected his bag, raked a hand through his short blonde hair, and set off towards the Pelican. He was faintly aware of the Warthog leaving, but didn't pay it any attention. He was too busy staring at the Pelican awaiting his arrival. The loading ramp lowered, revealing a man in uniform standing in the bay. Getting closer, he recognised the colours of the Officer as Colonel. He immediately snapped to attention as he reached the bottom of the ramp. "Colonel, Sir!" the Colonel smiled, "At ease, soldier." Dex lowered his hand to his hip, maintaining his posture. "I'm Colonel Hetfield. And I'll be you're superior Officer from now on." The Colonel offered his hand. Dex eyed it for a second before relaxing his stance and shaking the Officers hand. "Spartan B312, sir." The Colonel let go of his hand, turning to offer the Spartan om board. Dex moved up the ramp just behind the Officer to the seating. The Colonel stuck his head into the cabin "Pilot, we're ready to leave." The pilot nodded, "Sir, yes sir." and began to start the Pelican up. Colonel Hetfield returned to the seating area, where Dex was already seated. The Officer sat across from the Spartan, putting his safety harness on. "Well Spartan." Dex lifted his head to meet the mans gaze. The Pelicans engines whirred alive. "Welcome to your new life."

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**Wow I didn't expect the chapter to be that long, but I wanted to get across as much origin as I could. I didn't say before, but these are going to be like a short story per chap. So expect them to be long. Anyway I hope you enjoyed! Right now it is 23:01 so I need sleep. Don't forget to review if you found anything that is out of place/needs work. I am open to constructive criticism. Thanks again!**

** _-SS_**


	2. Unknown

**So here is Chapter 2. Hope you guys enjoy it. Not too action packed, but we're getting there.**

_**~SS**_

* * *

_23rd April 2545_

_System: Unknown. Planet: Unknown._

_UNSC Frigate H. Gurnsback in orbit of Covenant occupied planet. _

"Captain Taylor, Sir." Dex stood to attention at the mouth of the door, to the back of the Commanding officer. Since acquiring his new armour, he hadn't taken it off. He felt that if people knew his actual age, they wouldn't take him seriously and would treat him as a child. Being a Spartan meant he got the best equipment, but being a Spartan that worked alone meant that a lot more was invested in him. Section 3 in ONI was a big deal. A lot of prototype equipment was designed and made from within this branch (not just the Spartan III program). Being a sniper specialist gave him access to Project: GUNGIR, more specifically the MJOLNIR armour variants. The GUNGIR helmet provides total protection of the wearers face, using a small sensory output to project the wide angle view to a wide screen on the inside of the helmet. On his right shoulder a supplementary bandoleer, semi-rigid, with anti-material rounds. On his left the base security shoulder pauldron, originally manufactured in 2528 (you gotta respect the classics). His chest was an array of explosives, on an Assault/Sapper vest. Back on Onyx he was trained in sabotage as a secondary specialisation. A handy skill for a lone wolf, who would need to cover their tracks. While not so subtle, it was effective. Attached to the left strap was a large blade, concealed in a sheath. A blade he was very proficient with. On his right wrist, a state of the art Tactical/UGPS. Especially useful for tracking. Located on the thigh of his right leg, nestled a tactical soft case. To round it off the armour was a total black. Even his visor, although small, was darkened.

Realising the Captain hadn't replied to him yet, the Spartan cleared his throat and spoke again. "Sir..." Taylor straightened from his leant position at the tactical map, lifting his head. "I heard you the first time Spartan." By the tone of his voice, the Captain didn't sound happy. "You wanted to see me, Sir?" The older man turned to face the Spartan. "Yes, I did." He eyed the sensory output. Dex felt as though the Veteran as staring into his soul, despite the fact he was hidden by the helmet. "I know you Spartan types, as soon as you turn up, everything becomes classified. Now we're deep in Covvie territory, with no back up. Hell, I don't even know what system we're in, let alone what planet we're orbiting." His voice was raised toward the end. Dex reeled a little at the sharpness, but tried not to show it. "Sir, I.." Again, the Captain interrupted him. "And now we're going to just drop you via one of _our_ Drop Pods? You people have _no _respect for us grunts." The Captain seethed out the last word. Dex kept silent, not wishing to test Taylors patience. The man scoffed, turning back to the map. "I suppose we need to get you up to date with the plan." he gestured to the map. Dex made his way over to the map, leaning over the visual interface. If Taylor was still mad or not, he didn't let it show. "We'll you drop in one hour." He tapped a button on the side of the table, and the picture zoomed in. "This is temple, or whatever, that ONI wants you to target. They think that there is something valuable that the Covenant is hiding in there. You're job is to get in, get the data, and get out." Taylor stood up. "Is that clear, Spartan?" The young man nodded to the Captain. "Okay, go gear up. You drop in 50." He snapped to a salute. "Yes Sir!" Dex turned and made his way out the tac room. Before he reached the door, the Captain called him. "Spartan!" Dex faced him. "Give 'em hell." He smiled behind his visor, and left the room. Taylor turned to face the screen again. "I hope that kid knows what he's doing, Sheila." The AI appeared on the stand to his left. The mechanised voice of the woman filled the room. "_He has been trained by some of the best, Sir. He can do it_." He huffed and let out a sigh. "We all hope he can."

* * *

_UNSC Frigate H. Gurnsback_

_Subdeck Three: Armoury _

_15 minutes to drop_

Making his way into the armoury, already geared up with explosives on his Sapper chest piece, he needed the final set of equipment. His sniper rifle. While he would take a battle rifle with him, the sniper would be the favoured weapon. The Sniper Rifle System 99 Anti-Matériel. Better known as the SRS99. While it has been in use since 2460, it is still used by snipers everywhere. The distinctive white water vapour trail has been a terrifying sight for enemies everywhere. Covenant or Insurrection. Strapping the large 14.5mm calibre rifle to his back, he felt another presence enter the room. A hostile presence. "Hey what are you doing with our stuff!" Dex heaved a large sigh. ODST's. He hated ODST's. Probably almost, stressing the almost, as much as they hated him. "On a mission." The ODST who first walked in snorted, as two other ODST's joined him. "What kind of mission?" The soldiers tone was hostile. "The kind that stops the covenant." Dex knew that probably wasn't the best response to give, but he wasn't going to let them intimidate him. He might be 15 years younger than them, but he still towered over the Veteran Drop soldiers. "You trying to be funny, Spartan?" The ODST was moving forward to him, angrier now. The smarter side of Dex's brain told him to stop and ignore them. He chose to ignore it. "Trying to do my job." The ODST snapped, charging the Spartan, roaring in anger. Before he knew it, the older man was face down on the aluminium floor, the cold of a blade pressed into his neck. "I think its best we don't speak of this, no?" Dex released the Drop trooper, who shook his shoulders, muttering to the others, walking out the room. The Spartan smiled under his faceless helmet. 1-0. He moved to the elevator and pressed the button for subdeck four. The Drop Station.

* * *

_UNSC Frigate _

_Subdeck Four: Drop Station_

_2 minutes to drop_

Dex decided he didn't like drop pods. The Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle or Egg, as ODST's referred it to as, was a death trap. Being strapped into the crash seat facing the hatch, and his certain death, was something Dex was not comfortable with. The integrated communications module displayed his current target, ETA and his pods condition (thankfully reading: Optimal). The computerised voice of Sheila entered countdown. "One minute to drop." A rumble sounded through the hull of the pod brought him to attention. The Titanium-A, Lead-Foil and ceramic skin of the SOEIV should have been comforting to him. It wasn't. Before the drop, he'd read up on the schematics of the pods. A decision he was quickly starting to regret. During re-entry the ceramic skin melts and sheds away, replaced by the Lead-Foil to keep the armour together. _"Thirty seconds to drop."_ Sheila brought him back once more. The pod groaned as it moved toward the drop area. Dex checked his straps once more, paranoid now. Obviously the checking went quicke than he thought, since Sheila's next words nearly made him jump out of his skin. "_Five seconds to drop._" His breath hitched in his throat. Before he knew it, the exterior went from the black inner hull of the _Gurnsback, _to the black depths of space. Suddenly all of His worry faded away with the drop. While the drop from space to atmo was relatively short, to Dex it was an eternity. The moment shattered, much like the particle barrier he hit, as the pod entered the atmosphere of the planet. The ceramic outer shell began to disintegrate, as the pod shuddered. Dex read that it was at this point that the air on the inside the pod becomes unbearable. If you weren't in sealed armour, that is. He could feel the heat inside the pod, but it didn't bother him too much. He was much more worried about the later stage. He looked at the height reading, on the pods interface. As it hit 3000 feet the pod decelerated at a high rate, as the upper exterior panels separated, acting as a drag-type chute and slowing the SOEIV's descent. It wasn't this part that worried him either. The part that most worried him, was the final 50 meters. During the _Final Fifty, _the pod's computer controlled jet breaks slow it down to a speed that allows the _survival_ of the user. On rare occasions, the pod's break systems would fail, leaving the occupant to die on impact. _Digging you're own grave_ referred to by the ODST's. It was the worst possible way for an ODST to go. While Dex was confidant in UNSC equipment, he locked his armour at 500 feet.

* * *

**Dun dun duhhh! What's gonna happen? Well I'll get to that next week, till then you'll have to wait! Anyway, tell me what you guy think! Again, open to suggestions. Thanks for stopping by!**


	3. Behind Enemy Lines

**I apologise, work kind of took priority as well as this chapter being fairly long. Finally with some action though! I do hope you enjoy it, please leave a comment if you have any problem with it. Anyway, to the story!**

**_-SS_**

* * *

_23rd April 2545_

_System: Unknown. Planet: Unknown._

All Dex could do was watch as the white clouds appeared and disappeared just as quickly. While locked in his armour, Dex chanced a look down at his fate. All he managed was a glimpse of the green trees that covered his LZ. In the back of his mind he hoped they would act as a pillow of sorts to cushion his, no doubt, hard landing. His train of thought ground to a halt as the pod smashed into a rock face he hadn't noticed earlier. The impact shook him in his straps. Over and over. Crash after crash. Dex faintly recognised the branches that rushed past. A loud thud, and everything stopped.

It took a moment before he realised that he had stopped. Opening his eyes, Dex peered out the hatch before him. The view that greeted him was one of the now gaping hole in the canopy above, and the blue sky beyond that. Going to rise, Dex found he was still strapped in. Undoing the various buckles, he made to rise again. Only for the SOEIV to groan in protest, tipping slightly backward. Reorienting himself, he figured he was on his back. Looking up at the canopy above once again, Dex wondered why it wasn't so far away. The creak of the pod sounded once again. Tipping further back. Blood was beginning to rush to the Spartan's head. Analysing the situation, it dawned on Dex why the pod was creaking.

He was still in the trees.

~SB~

This was bad. On a scale of 'one to fucking terrible'. This was up around 'pretty shit'. Cursing under his breath, Dex's mind was a wash with ideas on what to do. The only problem was that they all ended with him in his pod, upside down on the forest floor. Even worse was that he didn't know how far he was down or how far he had to go. Gently maneuvering to catch a glance of his surroundings, the pod groaned once more. Swearing, he froze. Not knowing how much more the pod could take before fully falling. Looking around the interior of the SOEIV, the Spartan couldn't find anything useful. The module's reader had failed. He scoffed. "What a pile of crap." moving his head to look around more, he did a double take on the communications module. He groaned in annoyance at his own mistake. The altitude monitor was right there. "If the drill Sargent had seen that he would have roasted my ass." Dex could almost hear the man laughing in his face and ordering him to do fifty on the spot. Luckily (or unluckily) he wasn't here. Dex was on his own. The screen read a height of 75 feet from ground level_. Too far for a fall_. He may be a Spartan, but he still had limits. A distant creaking sounded, not of the pod, but rather of the tree branch the pod was on. He needed to move quickly and carefully. Collecting the battle rifle and sniper, the Spartan strapped the weapons to his back. Still not daring to move his legs from the position he froze in earlier. Dex had formulated a plan. What he needed to do was to get outside, onto the tree branch the pod was nestled on. Gripping the leaver release for the hatch, he took a deep breath.

Wrenching the lever down, the hatch blew off of the capsule into the trees above. At the same time Dex leapt into the air. The force of the hatch blowing off wrenched the pod out of position. It fell though the trees to the ground, landing with a thud. Still in the air, he spotted his landing on the branch, meeting it with his feet. His breathing hitched as a pain shot through his abdomen. Falling to his knees, the Spartan swore, clutching his hand to the area. Feeling around, it was painful. "Fuck." he grimaced, standing to his full height. He must have hit something in the pod during the fall. Glancing down, he could see the pod, dented in the forest floor. Seeing the leaf litter covering the floor, he guessed that he could jump down, and the leaves would break his fall. The now dull ache in his abdomen reminded him that it would be painful. Unsheathing his knife, he dug it into the trunk of the tree. Swinging his legs round, he braced himself against the bark. He moved his left hand down, finding a grip on the bark that could take his weight. Removing the knife, he moved down and dug it in again. He repeated the process until he was halfway down the tree. Looking down at the forest floor, he made the call he was going to jump. He ripped the knife out of the tree, simultaneously pushing himself off it, turning as he did so. Hitting the floor he broke his fall, rolling away. The pain in his muscles wasn't as bad as earlier, but was still noticeable. It would definitely bruise. Standing, he looked around, trying to get the waypoint for the ruins on his HUD.

This mission was critical to ONI. It came down from the top. Interrupted transmissions in Covenant ranks revealed that the ruins were Forerunner, and that they held a key to something. The nerds at the top of ONI had ideas about what it was but for Dex, it was just a mission. A mission with an outcome. That reminded him that he needed to get moving. The HUD estimated that it was about two days away. Lifting his head, he made his way through the jungle.

_25th April 2545_

_14:00 Hours_

Crawling to the edge of the cliff, Dex pulled up a zoomed image of the view on his visor. From the outside, the ruins looked fairly plain. Giant statues lined ancient streets, guarding long lost civilisation, that all converged to one grand building. Scanning the ruins, the buildings had become part o the jungle. Succession had begun. Trees sprouted through the tops of some buildings. Shrubs were located near the corners of houses. The main building, however, seemed pristine. Squinting his eyes, Dex noticed that the building glowed slightly. Shaking his head, Dex moved back from the edge of the cliff and melted into the jungle. Scaling down the side of the cliff wasn't as difficult as he expected. The roots that sprouted from the soil gave him a solid grip when moving. Reaching the bottom, Dex noticed something was off. He hadn't seen any Covenant yet. For a top secret, ancient ruin the place had no Covenant whatsoever. _None that you can see_. That last thought put the Spartan on edge. Now even more on guard, he made his way through the forgotten city.

~SB~

_Covenant research facility._

"Shipmaster, Jor 'Then." The Elite Ultra bowed before his commander. "Rise." The subordinate levelled with his superior. "The engineers are close to unlocking the secrets of the artefact. We expect them to complete their work soon." Jor turned to the console ahead of him. Below stretched out a wide basin, much like a large bowl. At the centre of the bowl stood a column. "The column will reveal what we need to know. The Hierarchs will be pleased with our progress." The Ultra looked as though he wanted to question his Leader. "Speak your mind, young one." The younger sangheili berated himself over his obvious insubordination. "I apologise Shipmaster, I should not be questioning you." The older Elite eyed his subordinate. "You wish to know what we are doing here." It was more of a statement than a question. The Ultra was taken aback, but covered it up quickly. "I don't understand why we are committing so much resources, to one artefact on this ancient world." Jor narrowed his eyes. "And what do you know you of troop movements. We go where the Prophets need us. We will do what we are ordered." His tone one of a scolding nature. "You are still young, Jasar. You will have you're time." The Ultra bowed once again. thank you Shipmaster. I shall take my leave." The younger Elite left the room. Jor turned to the artefact once again. "You may come out, Utha." Materialising out of seemingly nothing, the Spec Ops class Elite appeared, knelt, behind the Shipmaster. "What do you have to report." Rising, the Spec Ops faced the older Elite. "We have something. One of the scouting parties alerted us to something in the forests. They found a pod, human in origin. We have begun to scan the orbit of the planet, but the ship that dropped it has probably left." Turning to face his friend, Jor began walking away from the construct. "Put the area on alert. There is a Spartan on this planet. Inform Jasar that he is in charge of forces groundside. I will be taking a Phantom to the cruiser. I must speak with the Prophets." The subordinate rose, and walked with the commander. "Of course Shipmaster. Right away." The Spec Ops broke off and disappeared once more. "We will be ready for you, Demon."

_25 April 2545_

_23:00 Hours_

Well if the situation was at 'pretty shit', this getting pretty close to 'fucking terrible'. Dex was trapped. He thought it would be good to get to the glowing building, since that's probably where the artefact was. Halfway to the building, hugged against a wall, a standard Covenant patrol appeared ahead of him. Ducking into a small street, of sorts, Dex allowed them to pass. _That was close_. Heaving a sigh, he made to leave. Before he could, another patrol passed. _What the fuck. _Before he could think further, two Phantoms flew overhead. Spotlights on. _They know I'm here. _With his element of surprise gone, Dex had to take this more carefully. Moving around the corner, there didn't seem to be any other patrols. Keeping to the shadows, he made his way to the main building. Arriving the bottom of pyramid structure, Dex checked his HUD for movement. Finding nothing, he made his way up the stairs. _This is too easy. Where are the guards? _After a few minutes, he made it to the top of the pyramid. Stopping at the entrance of the building, he checked the area again. After all the activity earlier, the city was dead once more. Wary, Dex made his way into the construct. Hearing of sangheili, it sounded as though they had found something_. Perfect, they did all the work for me. _He pressed himself to the shadows. Moving through the room he reached, what he guessed, the main room. At the centre was the largest interface Dex had ever seen. The whole room was basked in a blue hue. The source was the giant basin with a projected map, he assumed, of the galaxy. At the edge of the basin, stood two Elites. Immediately the Spartan noticed that the Elites were Minors. Engineers by the look of it. He would need to take care of them.

Unsheathing his knife, Dex slowly made his way to the Elites. They were too distracted by their discovery to notice him. Going over the standard take-down in his head, the Spartan made his move. The first Minor wouldn't know what killed him. Grabbing the split jaw by the shoulder, Dex swung the knife in a wide downwards arc. The blade shattered shields, before plunging its way into the brain. _One down. _Still shocked by the sudden appearance of the Spartan, the second sangheili lunged for him. Wrenching the knife out, Dex quickly rolled under the grab, gripping the Elites arm on the way up. A loud crack sounded through the room. The Minor screeched in agony. He was swiftly silenced by a knife through the skull. The Spartan unsheathed his knife, allowing the body to drop to the floor. He stood, gazing at the map in awe. _This must be the artefact. It's just a map. _Moving to the interface, he removed a small device from within his tactical soft case. The small, rectangle shaped object looked much like a usb drive, but held a Covenant encryption key that would allow a program to download all the information needed.

Finding the interface the Covvies were using, Dex removed the Covenant version of the device, and inserted his own. A small 'download bar' appeared at the lower right hand corner of is HUD. _1% COMPLETE. _The bar filled at a moderate rate. The Spartan hoped that it would be over soon. He wanted to get away and watch the place explode. _10% COMPLETE. _He was already impatient. He paced back and forth, constantly checking his motion tracker for any movement. _20% COMPLETE. _He growled in frustration, gritting his teeth. "You humans are very impatient when it comes to technology." Dex froze, immediately checking his surroundings for the source of the voice. There was nothing on his tracker. _Where the fuck is he?_ "You fight with such cowardice. Concealed in the shadows, you strike when the enemy is unaware." The Spartan snorted behind his visor. _So, he wants to play games. _"And yet you are doing the exact same thing. Hiding away behind your camouflage." Silence. Dex began to stroll around the room. "I thought so, you're just as much a coward as I am. Using the same tactics. Thinking it can give you an edge. Beat me at my own game." Realisation hit him in the face. He stopped. "No. You're afraid." He began to laugh. "You are afraid that I'm going to kill you. You don't want to die." A loud growl came from his left. _Gotcha. _"You will be silenced!" A roar reverberated throughout the room, the faint distortion outline of the Spec Ops Elite was all he had to go on. However, before he could make a move, a hook connected with the left side of his face. The momentum spun him to his right and, before he could counter, an uppercut put him down to the floor.

Now, Dex had been punched a few times in his life before, but only light punches from training. Nothing could have prepared him for the crunching blow that floored him just now. He lay there, dazed by the sheer power of the Elite. The metallic taste of blood flooded his taste buds. He had probably bitten his cheek. He was brought back with a sharp kick to his ribs. If he didn't have ceramic bone, due to the augmentation, he would have broken his whole ribcage. "I have the feeling you underestimated me, Spartan. Elites are not conscripted for Special Operations. They are chosen." The Elite was visible now. The sharp contours of the helmet snarled at him. "You did well to get this far, Devil. However, your time is at an end." The sangheili reached to his waist for the energy sword located there. Before he could reach it, Dex unsheathed his knife and dug it into the calf of the Elite. Though it roared in pain, its hand found its target. The energy sword. _90% Percent COMPLETE._ The computerised voice sounded in his helmet. _Great fucking help that is. _The Spec Ops trooper flicked his wrist, the sword dancing to life.

This was bad. Actually no. This was fucking terrible. There was an Elite with an energy sword, and he had nothing. He couldn't use his weapons for fear of alerting other Covenant to his position. With a cynical laugh, the Elite lunged. Dex moved away at the last moment, allowing the sword to swish through thin air. The next swish would carve him from right shoulder to left hip. He jumped backwards, out of range. With a grunt of rage, the sangheili thrust the glowing sword. The attempt to impale the Spartan fell short. Stepping to the side, he gripped the Elites arm. A short twist broke it. The sword fell to the floor with a clank. Dex slammed his foot into the knee joint of the Spec Ops trooper. With a cry of paint it fell to the floor. Picking up the sword he had to admire the engineering. Skilfully made, the pure energy blade activated as the wielder gripped. Though this time, their technology was against them. "I guess it was you who underestimated me, Split jaw." Grinning under his helmet. The Elite bowed his head, accepting his fate. "I have lost this battle, honour dictates I must die." Lifting his head proudly, the Elite removed his helmet. What lay underneath was a battle hardened face, marred with scars. Old and new. "Strike me down Demon, so that I may continue the Great Journey." The old sangheili stared in Dex's visor. Not breaking at all. He made his way over to the alien. As he did so the Elite shut its eyes going over family mantras, under its breath, as ancient as the city they currently found themselves in. The Spartan drew his fist into the air and slammed it into the skull of the soldier. Just enough to knock him out. Satisfied with his work, he moved over to the console. Removing the drive, he zipped t up in the soft case, once again. "Time to blow this place to shit." He got to work placing the various explosives, from his assault sapper belt, and spread them periodically throughout the room. He threw one into the basin as a precaution. "Better blow it all up. Just to be sure." Gathering himself, he made his way out the room. He glanced back to the body of the Elite on the floor. _If he wakes up he better get the fuck out, quick. _The Spartan exited the room.

_26 April 2545_

_01:00 Hours_

Scaling up the cliff he'd come down earlier in the day was much harder. Especially since it was at night. Roots he thought were there, weren't. A few times he'd slipped and nearly took a fall down the cliff, but managed to save it. Besides, tonight he was going to watch the fireworks. Reaching the top, he heaved a sigh. The Spartan sat at the top of the cliff, legs swaying over the edge. He pulled out his detonator. One of his prized possessions, along with that he now had a Covenant energy sword, and of course his trusty kni... _Oh fuck. _"For fucks sake. I really liked that knife!" Shaking his head, all he could think of was that bloody knife lodged into the calf muscle of some Elite. Moving on, he prepared for the grand finale. On his way out of the city, he had periodically placed high explosive packs in the City. _Poor bastards. Wont know what hit 'em. _"Visor cam, set record." The little rec flashed at the top right corner of his HUD. Flicking the cap off the detonator. He pressed the button. "Boom" Dex watched as the timed explosives blew, in order, from the outskirts of this city. _BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. _Followed by the main building, going up in an extraordinary fashion_. I may have put too much in there. _Bits and pieces of rubble rained down from the sky. He could see thousands of Covvies scrambling, trying to figure out what was happening. Phantoms crawled the skies, like drones searching for a target. _Ahh I love my job. _"Visor cam, end record." The little symbol flashed once more and stopped. Standing to move back into the forest, Dex noticed the Phantoms heading in his direction. _There's no way... _Stopping mid thought, he checked himself. Head to toe. And sure enough, on his leg, nestled a small round device. No doubt the Spec Ops had placed it there whilst it was knelt. _You crafty little bastard. _Ripping it off, he flung it over the cliff and dashed into the woods. For he was not out of them yet.

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**Yet another cliff hanger! *ba dum tiss* Sorry that was terrible. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Be sure to tune in next time!**


	4. Escape

**Hello! First of all I would like to apologise for the blatant disregard for this story which I am really into. Basically life happened, which I know is a bad excuse, but going to University is kinda crazy! Anyway, I'd like to thank the Guest who reviewed this ages ago! I'm not revealing too much about the outcome of the fic, but I'll be showing flashbacks throughout to give you guys some idea. Anyway, I'll try and update this fic as and when I can, but I can't ****guarantee****regular intervals. Again, if you can see anything wrong, feel free to comment! Apologies once again, hope you enjoy! **

_**-SS**_

* * *

_27th April 2545_

_System: Unknown. Planet: Unknown._

_03:00 Hours_

The general rule is that, if you're a Spartan, you're nigh impenetrable. While this might help during battle, hiking around all of your equipment and your giant frame for over a day tends to take its toll. Dex ground to a halt behind a large tree trunk, taking in large mouthfuls of air, trying to recover from all the running. He'd nearly gotten away twice, before a keen eyed Jackal had spotted him both times. He'd lost count of how many Phantoms he'd seen over the course of the past day. _I thought they'd never fucking end. I can't keep this up for long, I need to contact the Gurnsback and get an extraction. _There was only one problem with that plan. As soon as a link with ship is set up, the Covenant will be able to trace the outbound transmission to, both, the sender and the receiver. _Heads you win, tails I lose. Fucking great. _The matter wasn't helped by the fact that he was currently being hunted by an army of Covvies that could be on him at any minute. _You need to make a decision, you're running out of options. _The situation was now past _Fucking terrible_, it was now _FUBAR. _As the thought ran its way through his neurones, a Needle rifle shot skimmed its way past the Spartan's side, shaving the trunk of the tree in the process. Cursing, he broke into a full on sprint toward the edge of the trees. _I need to get rid of this phantom. _Grabbing one of the explosives on his chest piece, he sprinted his way toward a tree that looked fairly easy to climb. The Phantom, meanwhile, dropped closer to the canopy of the trees, gauging where the Demon could be. Hopping from branch to branch, Dex made his way up. Getting to just before the top, he stopped. Planning how he was going to do this. A thought entered his mind. He realised that the needle rifle shot must have come from ground level. _I'll deal with the Jackals later. _He focussed back on the matter at hand. Waiting for the perfect moment, Dex crouched. He would need as much lift as he could get to make it top the tree and further onwards.

The Phantom dropped low to the treeline, almost skimming the trees as it passed. The pilot didn't have enough time to swing the troop transport away as the large Spartan leapt from the green of the tree tops. A large thud could be heard as the soldier hit the bottom of the carrier. The Jackal at the helm cried to the operations officer in control of the plasma cannon, alerting the rest of the crew to what had just transpired. Turning back to controls of the Phantom, the pilot flicked the side doors of the shut, preventing the Spartan from entering the ship. Little did the Kig-Yar realise that Dex was already dropping through the tree canopy to the forest floor. His distraction had been enough, whilst he'd been attached to the bottom, he'd slipped an explosives pack in the shuttle. What many soldiers didn't think was that the inside of a Phantom wasn't armoured and thus was the optimal strike point. But being trained by Kurt Ambrose meant you didn't think like a normal soldier. As the Spartan hit the floor the Phantom exploded above the tree tops. _I am so badass._ He took off at a sprint in the bearing to his extraction point.

_27th April 2545_

_System: Unknown. Planet: Unknown._

_04:23 Hours _

Dex came to a halt about 4 Kilometres out from his primary extraction LZ. _I need to by the Pelican some time before the Covvies find the actual extraction point. _"Alright Dex, if you're gonna do this, you're gonna have to haul arse." Bringing up his UGPS, the Spartan accessed the communications panel_. Here we go_. "UNSC Hugo Gurnsback, this is Spartan B-312 calling in for primary extraction at point Alpha, co-ordinates 4-7 Latitude, minus 1-2-2 Longitude. How copy?" The coordinates he had given were 5 kilometres east of his current position, in an attempt to throw the Covenant off of the actual LZ. As he waited for a reply, he set up a tripmine, just in case a scouting party traced his current location. Once he finished, he awaited a reply.

Silence.

He began to worry. _Why aren't they responding? _Quickly scanning through his comm channels, he found nothing wrong with them. _Why aren't they pinging back?_ "UNSC Hugo Gurnsback, I repeat I am awaiting extraction at" The comm crackled to life. Dex could barely register what the specialist was saying. "Spa… B-31…. is the… Gurnsback.. We ar… troub… comms… Pelican is en… one hour.. ow copy?" As per the UNSC comm protocols they were required to give incorrect information on timings. He had 15 minutes. "This is B-312, good copy, I repeat good copy, out." The soldier took off like a cheetah to the LZ. This was going to take it out of him. Faintly behind him he could hear his tripmine going off, undoubtedly taking out the patrol that was unlucky enough to find it. His lungs began to burn as he broke out of the treeline, spotting the ridge in the distance. His HUD location marker gave its distance. _1900m. _Looking up he tried to spot the Pelican descending through the clouds. _There!_ In the midst of white fluffy clouds he could make out the dark shape of the bird.

"Spartan B-312, this is Pelican Bravo one niner, we are 1500 meters out and closing. You ready for a quick dust off soldier?" The pilots voice sounded familiar. Slavic. _Kat? _An explosion behind him brought him back to the present. Turning his head, Dex spotted a pair of Banshees honing in on the LZ. "One niner, we're gonna have some company, so yes please!" The Pelican swung down on the ridge, awaiting its passenger. "Two bogies on your tail." Weaving whilst sprinting, Dex barely avoided the rows of hot plasma. "Don't worry I got them." Going to pull two grenades from his belt, he found nothing_. Shit, shit, shit_. Idea's bloomed through his head. _What do I do? _Suddenly it clicked. _I have a sniper._ Grinding to a halt he pulled the SRS99 from his back, the Banshees passed above. Not expecting him to just stop, but in the process revealing their weak points. The pilot. Scoping down, the Spartan traced his target. Breathing in, he waited between heartbeats. CRACK. The rightmost Banshee fell, the pilot dead. Dex shifted to the second one. CRACK. It followed its partner to the ground. _Oh I am definitely badass. _ Shouldering the sniper, he made for the Pelican once more. Hitting the metal of the inner hull, he slammed the shutter button. "Let's go one niner!" The D77-TC's engines roared into life, thrusting the dropship away from the planet. Inertia pulled Dex into one of the seats in the cargo area. He strapped in, readying himself for the flight.

Looking out the window, the blue sky of the planet quickly turned into the black of space_. It's like the reverse of the drop pod_. He shook his head, leaning back against the hull, closing his eyes. The pilot turned back to look into the cargo area. "You alright back there soldier?" They shot straight back open. Memories of training back on Onyx flooded his mind.

~SB~

_29th May 2542_

_System: Zeta Doradus. Planet: Onyx._

_12:45 Hours_

"You alright back there soldier?" Kat's voice brought him back to the Warthog. Bouncing in the back of the troop carrier, _Team November _prepped for the exercise. "Yeah, sorry zoned out." She smiled warmly at him. "Don't worry, but if you do that during the exercise.." She leaned in close to his face. "I'll kick your ass." Leaning back into her seat, laughing. Dex's face flamed. Jayce-B013, teamleader of _November_, cleared his throat. "Now that we're all awake." Decidedly looking at Dex, who hid his face - flaming again. "Our assignment today is capture the flag." There was a collective groan through in the Warthog. Gemma-B199, usually the quiet one in the team, leaned back against the inner hull. "You know how bad we are at this." Jayce rubbed his eyes with his hand. "Look, I don't pick the exercises, and we're up against _Foxtrot_ today, so prepare yourself for a beating." The Warthog came to a hault. "Alright November, lets move." They filed out of the Warthog. Jayce faced them again. "You know the drill. We get the flag, get it to their base or beat all of them to win. We go on the sound of the klaxon. You ready?" The group snapped to attention. "OOH-RA!".

~SB~

_27th April 2545_

_System: Unknown. Planet: Unknown._

_05:30 Hours _

"Hello?" The voice brought him back from his memories. "You in there?" Dex shook his head and cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorry just tired." It wasn't Kat piloting the Pelican. The Pilot shook her head, turning back to the controls. Bringing the Pelican back to the _Hugo Gurnsback._


End file.
